The actual meaning of a wager says it all - "the betting or staking of something of value, with consciousness of risk and hope of gain, on the outcome of a game, a contest, or an uncertain event whose result may be determined by chance or accident or have an unexpected result by reason of the bettors miscalculation".

If you are new to sportsbetting, we hope our simple guide will help you get on the right track to start backing winners. If you're old hand at the game, we're sure you'll find something interesting in the guide as well.

Instead of finding an individual to oppose, the easiest way is to use a bookmaker. The bookmaker (also known as a bookie) is an individual or organisation that makes a business from taking bets. Whatever sporting event you are interested in, from the British Open Golf to Men's 100 metre sprint, there will usually be one or more bookmakers taking bets on it.

In betting with a bookmaker you are said to place a bet and the bookmaker is said to take a bet - but in essence it's exactly the same as betting with a friend. You put down your stake and if you lose, they keep it. If you win however, you get your stake back plus your winnings. A person who places a bet with a bookmaker is often referred to as a punter.

For example, if you back Tiger Woods at 3/1 and you give the bookmaker one unit - say, a dollar - and if (or should I say when!) Tiger Woods wins, you will get your one dollar back and the three dollars winnings. In Australia and Europe, the odds of 3/1 are usually represented as a decimal (4.00) or dollar value ($4), while in the USA, the odds of 3/1 would be represented as 300 (more later).

Terminology - When the amount of money you can win (in my example, three dollars) is greater than the amount you stake (your original dollar), this is known as odds against. When the amount of money you can win is less than your stake it is known as odds on. Of course you still win since you get back your stake. An example might be if you back Australia at 3/1 on (1/3 or $1.33 or -305), you will get your stake back plus 33 cents.

In theory, the odds represent the probability of an outcome, ie. how often it would occur if the event were repeated again and again. For example, if you toss a coin thousands of times, you would expect half to come up heads and the other half tails. Odds based on the statistical probability are known as the true odds. In this case, the true odds are 1/2 - you have a 50 per cent chance of winning. Because sporting events are never conducted under the same conditions, the true odds are always a matter of opinion.

When you bet with a bookmaker, the odds not only need to represent the likelihood of a result, but also the bookmakers need to make a profit or edge. Of course, the amounts of money taken on each outcome also affect the odds.

The idea is to find the odds that are out of line with the true probability, even after taking into account the bookmakers slice. Of course, unless the odds are way off the mark, this is always up to opinion!

Example: The following table represents a market for the Hopman Cup Tennis tournament. The odds are converted into a probability and then percentage. After adding all the percentages together we get what is known as an over-round. Remembering that mathematically, the total probabilities of all participants in an event must add up to 100%, the bookmakers over-round (126% in this example) will add up to over 100% because it incorporates the bookmakers profit. 

Of course, the higher the over-round and profit, the less overall value the bookmaker is offering. But remember, just because the total market may appear poor, there still may be value among a particular option in the market - eg. USA might be a point over the best odds offered elsewhere even though the other bookmakers have a lower over-round.

TAB's will usually have a higher over-round as most are publicly listed companies and are therefore have to met certain profit figures and are usually willing to take less risk in forming their market. Although many bookmakers in Australia are also publicly listed, they can sometimes afford to incorporate a lower over-round. This is done sometimes in anticipation of regular money coming for a team making them 'easy to lay' or the bookmaker may be hedging with other betting agencies. An example of this might be when an Australian bookmaker has an Australian based team or individual in their market, they can afford to offer much better odds as they will more than not find more favorable odds offshore to cover their book. Of course the internet has made it easier for the regular punter to place a bet offshore an get the best odds in these instances. (Eg. William Hill)

A single or win bet is the most common type of bet and can take may forms. A simple win bet is when you bet on a team to beat another team, for example, you might bet that Sydney will beat Melbourne. In order to get a better price you might bet on Sydney 'at the line' or 'at the start'. These are forms of handicap betting, ie. you bet that Sydney will cover the -10.5 point line - that is that Sydney must win by more than 11 points for your bet to be successful.

Each-Way

An each-way bet is effectively two bets in which equal stakes are laid on - 1. the selection coming first and 2. the selection running a place (eg. can be 1st or 2nd; 1st, 2nd, or 3rd; 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th). 

Accumulators or All-up's

Double - 1 bet involving 2 selections in different events. Both must be successful to get a return

Treble - 1 bet involving 3 selections in different events. All must be successful to get a return

Four-Fold Accumulator - 1 bet involving 4 selections in different events. All must be successful to get a return

Five-Fold Accumulator - 1 bet involving 5 selections in different events. All must be successful to get a return

Six-Fold Accumulator - 1 bet involving 6 selections in different events. All must be successful to get a return

Seven-Fold Accumulator - 1 bet involving 7 selections in different events. All must be successful to get a return

Trixie - 4 bets involving 3 selections in different events, i.e. 3 doubles plus 1 treble. A minimum of 2 of your selections must be successful to get a return

Patent - 7 bets involving 3 selections in different events, i.e. a single on each selection, plus 3 doubles and 1 treble. Just one successful selection guarantees a return

Yankee - 11 bets involving 4 selections in different events, i.e. 6 doubles, 4 trebles, and 1 fourfold. A minimum of 2 of your selections must be successful to get a return

Canadian - 26 bets involving 5 selections in different events, i.e. 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 four-folds plus 1 five-fold. A minimum of 2 of your selections must be successful to get a return

Heinz - 57 bets involving 6 selections in different events, i.e. 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 four-folds, 6 five-folds and 1 six-fold. A minimum of 2 of your selections must be successful to get a return

Totalisator or TAB

Most common for race betting, but some TAB's do offer sportsbetting options. The totalisator or 'tote' offers a similar set of options to the bookmaker but uses a pool system. This means that all bets are pooled and following the event, the pool is shared out among those who won - less deductions and the tote's profit. This means that your bet is not made at fixed odds as the amount you stand to win is affected by those who bet after you. The tote's deduction is usually significantly higher than the bookmakers, making it an unattractive option for sportsbetting. 

Spread or Index

A high risk form of betting derived from financial markets where you bet on a 'spread' of numbers relating to a particular event - for example, runs scored in cricket or points in Rugby League. The bookmaker will quote the spread - what he believes to be the likely outcome. i.e. if the spread for Australia in a One-Day game is 240-250, and you think Australia will score more than 250, you 'buy' at 250 and stipulate your stake per run. So if Australia score 300 runs in their innings and your stake was $10 you will win 50 x $10 = $500. However, if Australia only score 200 runs you will lose 50 x $10 = $500. Loss/Win limits are usually agreed to before opening up an account. The idea with spread or index betting is that the more right you are the more you win, but of course the more wrong you are you more you will also lose.

One-to-One

This essentially refers to betting without a bookmaker, as you would with a friend for example. There are now a number of one-to-one betting sites on the internet that enable strangers to bet against each other. One such site is called Betfair. Here you can lay a bet, yourself offering the odds and stake, and wait to see whether another user will take you up on it. Of course if you're bet is successful, you will have a commission taken off the winnings.